Movie mogul Haruki Kadokawa changed the landscape of Japanese cinema for good when he introduced the concept of the blockbuster to the country with this gripping crime drama featuring an all-star cast.

When mixed-raced Johnny Hayward (Flower Travellin' Band vocalist Joe Yamanaka) heads from his Harlem home to Tokyo, he becomes the victim of a brutal stabbing in the elevator of a plush hotel hosting a catwalk show by elite fashion designer Kyoko (Mariko Okada). That same night, Kyoko's son with her powerful politician husband Yohei (Toshiro Mifune) is involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident and flees the country. Suspecting the incidents may be linked, Detective Munesue (Yusaku Matsuda, The Game Trilogy) heads to New York to investigate Johnny's background. Here he is partnered with local detective Ken Shuftan (George Kennedy, Airport), whose own links to Japan dredge up painful memories from Munesue's childhood.

Adapted from the best-selling novel of the same name by Seiichi Morimura by director Junya Sato (The Bullet Train, Manhunt) and screenwriter Zenzo Matsuyama (The Human Condition trilogy), and shot on location in Japan and New York by veteran cinematographer Shinsaku Himeda (Pigs and Battleships, Vengeance is Mine), Proof of the Man is a compelling exploration of racial identity and the trauma of the postwar occupation period framed in the form of a whodunnit. Arrow Video is proud to present the film for the very first time outside Japan for the home-video market in a brand new transfer sourced from a new 4K restoration by Kadokawa.

Product Features

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

High-Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation

Original lossless mono audio

Optional newly translated English subtitles

Brand new audio commentary with Asian American film scholar Rob Buscher and DJ Skeme Richards

Taking the Big Apple, a brand new video introduction by Asian film scholar Earl Jackson

A Japanese Blockbuster, a brand new filmed discussion with critics and Junya Sato biographers Tatsuya Masuto and Masaaki Nomura

Original theatrical trailers

Image gallery

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by film critic Michelle Kisner and scholar Alexander Zahlten